Pages

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

#AuthorInterview Jen Talty and Dark Water

1. Hi Jen Talty, glad to have you on my blog today, I hear you have a new book coming out. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Dark Water is a follow up to my book In Two Weeks. I hadn’t planned on writing a series, but when readers started sending me
emails on how much they loved Frank Harmon and wanted to know when his book was
coming out I had to revisit the story and see what was going on with Frank.

In the first book, Frank was a
supporting character. He was a protégé to the Hero (Jared Blake) and he was so
much fun to write. He kept Jared on his toes, but never got in the way. I think
I secretly had a crush on Frank it must have shown in the writing, which is why
readers responded so positively toward him, so I had to dig deeper into his
character to find his story. Here is the blurb for Dark Water:

Lacy DeGeorgio never
imagined she'd have to be responsible for anyone but herself. She's strong,
stubborn and fiercely independent. She needs no one. She's a woman determined
to do things her way, on her own. But when a freak boating accident takes her
sister Hannah's life, Lacy finds herself not only back in her hometown of Lake
George, New York, but in a custody battle for her eleven-year-old nephew, Andy.
Just when things couldn't get any worse, pesky State Trooper Frank Harmon
starts showing up, tearing down all her defenses, making her want things she's
never wanted before. She'll trust him with her nephew, but can she trust him
with her heart?

New York State Trooper Frank Harmon is a man of honor and duty. He's always
done things by the book, believing the law always works in favor of those who
uphold it. Until the day he took a domestic disturbance call at the DeGeorgio trailer,
and even though he knew something bad was about to happen, he had to walk away.
Two days later, he pulled Hannah DeGeorgio's body from the icy cold waters of
Lake George, changing his life forever. He sets out to make sure Hannah's
killer is brought to justice and in the process makes a home for a family he
thought he never wanted.

2. Sounds like a real thriller and a romance with sparks. What genres do you like to
write in? Do you pay attention to genre rules or bend them?

I love to write Romantic
Suspense. I’m fascinated by the darker side of human nature and often ask
myself ‘what would cause someone to cross a line they thought they would never
cross’? My business partner, NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer has taught
me the 3 rules of rule breaking: 1) Know the rule 2) break the rule and 3) have
a good reason for breaking the rule. So, I pay attention to the rules, but I
have been known to break a few, but I understand why it was important to the
characters or to the story that the rule be broken.

3. That's the kind of questions I ask myself. What kind of books do you
like to read? Which authors influenced you?

I love to read suspense,
science fiction and novels that would be considered dark. The author that has
influenced me the most over my entire career as a writer has been my business
partner, Bob Mayer. I was a fan of his work long before I meet him. I was lucky
enough to take a weekend retreat from him and that is how we began working
together. Authors like Sandra Brown, Allison Brennan, Laura Benedict and of
course Stephen King have influenced the way I write.

4. Are you a character driven
or plot driven writer?

I look to plot first—suspense
tends to lend itself well to the ‘what if’ question. Dark Water, the what if
was: what if the only way to save your nephew was to come back to the one place
you swore you’d never ever return to? It’s a simple question, and really isn’t
the bulk of the story, but it gives me a place to start. From there I focus on
character. Who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist and how do they fit
into my story question?

5. Do you have any advice for
writers who are just starting out?

The best advice I ever got was
from Bob Mayer, of course. Read. Write. Read. Write.

6. I agree. Reading is an extension of experiencing. Who is your favorite
character?

I don’t
really have a favorite character—I love them all, of course, I wrote them.
However, one of the most fun character’s I had writing was Travis Brown from Jane Doe’s Return. He was so much fun
because he was so different from any other hero I had ever written. I tend to
fancy Alpha Males and Travis is more of a Beta Male. He also had a unique
ability. He was very limber due to his days in the gymnastics team in HS. It
made for one very funny scene right before the hero and heroine make love for
the first time. Loved that scene!

7. Ha, ha, I bet. Okay, who was your most difficult
character?

The most difficult is the heroine
in a book that will be released sometime next year titled Legacy of Lies. Katie
Bateman has an attitude the size of Texas and I find it hard to tone her down,
but I have to, or she comes off too harsh and unlikeable. The problem is, she’s
very opinionated and not afraid to say exactly what is on her mind. This tends
to get her in a bit of trouble. She is sort of harsh and unlikeable in the
beginning and during the course of the book she learns sometimes its better to
keep your opinion to yourself.

8. Hmmm....you don’t have to tell us, but
who in your life did you pattern him/her after?

Well, probably me!

Thanks a lot, Jen, for telling us about your writing and your penchant for Alpha Males. To find out more about Jen, please visit her sites:Write It Forward Blog: http://writeitforward.wordpress.com